The attitude of gratitude is to be aware of the good that happens to us in life.

It’s easy to forget where we came from and the people who helped us to get where we are.

In general, we have very poor memory when it comes to remembering those who helped us in life and also WE ASSUME THAT WE DESERVE ALL.

Being grateful means recognizing the good that happens in life, but it is not easy to feel gratitude, especially when we are trying to achieve goals in a hurry. It is essential to take a break, head out of the hole and see that we are surrounded by people who do so much for us.

We take for granted what we have. As if life were a company which hired us and was required to maintain our benefits or gifts.

According to author David Fischman, the formula of gratitude is:

A more humility, we have a greater sense that we do not deserve ALL.

In greater humility, we are not so important and nor do we expect a lot from others.

In contrast, we value the small gestures of kindness.

Furthermore, a greater awareness of the gifts that life gives us, the greater the sense of gratitude.

Few people think that being alive, healthy, with many capabilities or that our family does not have a major problem is a gift. We just assume that we deserve.

People with disabilities, like Helen Keller, help us to remember that being healthy is a gift. She confesses:

“I have often thought it would be a blessing from above that every human being, during adulthood, went blind and deaf for a few days. Darkness would make him appreciate the treasure of the view and the silence would teach him to enjoy the sound.

I imagined what I would do if I was given that gift for three days only … Oh, the things I would see if I was given the gift of sight for only three days …!

As I am blind, want to give an advice to which they are not: enjoy your eyes as if tomorrow you were to run out of them, and do the same with everything you have. “

Each day we have life, health, and welfare of our family is a gift to be thankful.

Thank the person who helped you get the position you are currently in the course of your life. He could be your father, your mother, your brother, sister, a friend, a stranger who passed through your life and gave you hand for you to move on.

I suggest you do this exercise for happiness:

Reflect on the day happened and think about an event or situation that you feel grateful. Remember the fact. What happened? What gift did you receive? To who should be grateful?

Let the feeling of gratitude invades your mind and enjoy it (Adapted from Emmons 2008:11)

Practicing this exercise will fill us with happiness. Robert Emmons is one of the leading researchers on gratitude. In their study had a group of people take gratitude journals, writing about what they were thankful. Another control group will play write about other topics. Those who followed the gratitude journal felt happier, had fewer symptoms of illness and felt more satisfied with their lives as a whole.

In another similar study, it was shown that people who wrote about gratitude were 25 percent happier than the control group. The people who showed gratitude were more willing to help and serve others in comparison with the control group.

There are several reasons why gratitude helps us to be happier and the following three causes could be the most significant:

First, it reduces the phenomenon of adaptation. Being thankful we do not get used to what we have. In contrast, to feel gratitude, we become aware of our fortunes and the gifts that life gives us.

Second, be grateful focuses our attention on what we have and not what others have, avoiding envy and negative social comparisons. When we appreciate, we are focusing our attention on the good that happens to us in life. Focusing on the good brings us positive emotions in our lives.

And thirdly, feel gratitude makes us perceive a world of good and help us pay attention to the people around us. It helps us feel loved and appreciated by others and the divine.

EXPRESSING ITS GRATITUDE TO THE PROBLEMS

Taking a class of Personal Enrichment in Los Angeles, California, I heard that in the Chinese language, the synonym of the word “problem” is the word “opportunity”.

And I think the problems will always be in our lives. However it is best to call the problem a challenge. We must learn to overcome that challenge comes in our life and grow as a human being. After overcoming that problem or challenge, you feel so great about yourself and the following problems or challenges will be easier to handle.

I do not know if you noticed that when one is a child, and for some reason was sick with fever. And after overcoming the bad time, the child literally grew in stature one, two or three centimeters. Notice that with a child in your family and verify. When you are an adult, when faced with a problem or challenge, is like fever in children. After overcoming that problem or challenge, you grow as a human being; you become a more mature human being and feel like a superhero. I can guarantee it.

Exercise of reflection:

Think about a difficult issue at this time and have it worried, afraid, anger or frustration. Now, mentally, thanks for the difficulty you are experiencing.

Give thanks to life or God for the difficulties being experienced. Try to see how it’s growing, to face this problem. What are you learning? Perhaps you are learning patience, tolerance, understanding, tenacity or another positive feature. Stay a moment feeling gratitude for this problem that life presents.

Those who developed the previous exercise of reflection have become aware of the benefits.When we thank life or God for a problem, we take control of it. It leaves a feeling that if we can handle and also everything is happening to us we will benefit in the future. It is an excellent stress management strategy and helps us see the positive side of problems.

Exercise of gratitude:

Think of someone close to you whom you have not had a chance to give thanks for what he did for you. It may be a family member, a friend or a person who disinterestedly helped.

Write in a notebook a letter of thanks for this individual. Be generous and grateful. Perhaps this person has not done everything right; however you should focus on the positive aspects of support. Stop reading and do the exercise.

This exercise is one of the most important and I strongly suggest you do. Most people, who do this exercise, loose and stir tears remembering everything you have done for them. Some thank people who have died and wonder: Why did not I do this before?

Why not tell her how much she was grateful? Others realize just when they write a letter of thanks that have been helped or who have given gifts that were not really aware.

Please, do the exercise and I assure you will be very happy. Doing this exercise will allow you to find the treasure of gratitude, a treasure that, the more you delivery the more it grows inside you and makes it happier.

A few days ago some friends met their first wedding anniversary, to whom I wish happiness and have so many more anniversaries to have the best memories of their lives.

These days, couples, last a short time with their relationship. It’s a little difficult to find couples who reaching two, five or many more years as a couple. The promise that was made at the beginning of the relationship by sharing the good and bad times breaks very quickly. What is happening with the society these days? What most couples are failing?

Perhaps to improve in this area, it would be good idea to motivate us to take as an example the movie “The Notebook”
This movie is more than just a typical love story.

The story begins in a psychiatric hospital where two elderly played by Gena Rowlands and James Garner. He starts the day by reading a story: The Notebook. This story takes us to the 40’s, a small village called Seabrook, North Carolina, visited by the marriage Hamilton, and Alli (Rachel McAdams) daughter of 17. There she met at a fair Noah Callohum (Ryan Gosling) and at the insistence of him, Alli accepts a date. There begins a beautiful friendship that turns into a passionate love of summer. But all is not an easy ride. They belong to two different worlds, she is upper class and he is a simple worker in the factory town. The opposition mainly from her mother makes the end of their idyll be accelerated to take Alli of the town before the end of summer.

Noah writes to Alli a letter each day for a year, but the mother intercepts these 365 letters that do not reach their target.

Outbreak of World War II, He enlisted in the army and she was a volunteer nurse. In the hospital where she was volunteer nurse she meets Lon (James Marsden) a handsome, rich, soldier with which begins a relationship.

After the war Noah returns to town and buy the house with which have always dreamed him and Alli. By coincidence he sees her in the city, but she is with Lon, with whom she engages.

Before she gets marriage with Lon, Alli decides to return a few days to Seabrook, where she be reunited with her love of summer, Noah.

This story told by the elder, is interspersed with images of the history of this old man and his listener in the hospital.

Admittedly, many things are predictable in the movie, some even too much. It’s a beautiful story, in which love fight against everything, until the end of their days.

Where Alli asks Noah: “Do you think our love can do that we can go together”?

And Noah replied: “I know our love can do whatever we want”

I hope this story of love, has motivated to be together with your partner.

If you know someone who needs this information, please spread the word.

Imagine you’re on a cruise from America to Europe in the voyage, the ship sinks, all die, and happily you are the only person who is able to save in a lifeboat. Life gave you another chance to live again.

Fortunately the lifeboat is full of provisions for this type of emergency, and the lifeboat can be converted into a sailing boat to help you navigate and even has a compass, so you can guide. Without realizing it, you’re in a huge oceansailing and wind starts blowing and you’re at their mercy. You lose your balance and you drop the compass at sea, unable to recover.

The winds just take you wherever the wind blows

How to know which way to go? How could orient yourself?

To orient yourself have to find something that will never change. The answer is: the sun, moon and stars.

Something similar happens in our lives. In a world where you have so many paths possibilities, opportunities and temptations to follow in our lives we are disoriented.

How I can orient myself to follow the right path?

What is it that never changes in life?

The answer is “The Principles“.

How do you define principles?

The principles are universal laws, natural, self-evident and self-demonstrable that are external to us that govern all things and ultimately control the consequences of our actions. The principles are independent of us. Operate outside of our awareness of them, of our acceptance of them, if we like, whether we believe in them or attack them. Humility (from the point of view virtuous, is to accept our skills and weaknesses, without boast about them.) is the mother of all virtues. Humility tells us that we do not control, and the principles are those that control, and therefore we submit to them.

The Principles are based on the character and for that we must have a character ethic according to Dr. Stephen R. Covey:

Character Ethics consists of:

– Integrity

– Fidelity

– Courage

– Compassion

– Contribution

– Responsibility

– Justice

Instead Values ​​are internal and subjective, and represent what we feel with greater strength and that orients our behavior. Everyone has values; even a group of criminals have values. The values ​​govern people’s behavior, but the principles governing the consequences of such conduct. Pride is the opposite of humility. The person who is arrogant is pretentious, interested, selfish, and it is believed, self-sufficient and generally does things for convenience.

For that reason, if your values ​​are based on the principles, the consequences of your actions will be favorable for you, because the principles never change.

There are different types of values and to better understand these can be classified according to the following criteria according to the author Juan Carlos Jimenez:

• Personal Values:

They are those who consider essential principles upon which we build our life and guide us to relate to other people. They are usually a mixture of family values ​​and socio-cultural value, along with those who add as individuals according to our experiences.

•Family values:

They refer to what in family values ​​and set as right or wrong. They are derived from the fundamental beliefs of the parents, which educate their children. Basic principles and guidelines are our initial behavior in society. They are spread across all the behaviors with which we act as a family, from the simplest to the most “solemn”.

• Socio-cultural values:

They are prevalent in the society in which we live. Have changed throughout history and may not coincide with personal or family values. It is a complex mixture of different types of assessments, which in many cases appear contradictory or pose dilemmas.

For example, if socially not promoted the value of work as a means of personal fulfillment, society indirectly ends up encouraging “anti-values” such as dishonesty, irresponsibility or crime.

Another common example in our times, socio-cultural value is the one you see in most commercial on television, radio and other media, which attack your sub-conscious, reaching to wash your brain and tell you to be happy you have to have a car of the year, a big house, wear fashionable clothes, have electronic games, etc., often getting into debt more than it is within your reach and to the extent of neglecting your health. With this pretext, companies are taking advantage of your vanity, pride, “what will people say” and wanting to impress all your friends and acquaintances and strangers on social networks like facebook, twitter, etc.

Another example of the dilemmas that may present socio-cultural values ​​happens when promoting that “End justifies the means.” With this pretext, terrorists and arbitrary rulers justify violence, intolerance and lies, claiming that their ultimate goal is peace.

• Material values:

They are those that allow us to survive. They have to do with our basic needs as human beings, as feed or clothe to protect us from the weather. They are important as they are needed. They are part of the complex fabric that forms the relationship between personal values, family and socio-cultural. When you exaggerate, material values ​​come into conflict with the spiritual.

• Spiritual values:

They refer to the importance we give to non-material aspects of our lives. They are part of our human needs and allow us to feel fulfilled. They add meaning and substance to our lives, as with religious beliefs.

• Moral values:

These are the attitudes and behaviors that a given society considers essential for coexistence, order and the general welfare.

You decide whether to follow:

The principles and values ​​based on principles or social values​​ NOT based on principles!

These days there are many things that go backwards and it seems that most of us have lost the balance in our lives, have lost our spiritual equilibrium and without realizing we have changed our values.

We have exploited the poor and we have called this “Distribution of wealth“.

We have rewarded laziness and called it “Social Plans.”

We have killed our children yet unborn and called it “The Free Choice”

We have allowed them to kill and steal and called it “Human Rights“.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it “To develop their Self-Esteem.”

We have been corrupt and abused power and we have called this “Politics“.

We have polluted the radio waves and television with much vulgarity and pornography and called it “Freedom of Expression“.

We have ridiculed the values ​​established long ago by our ancestors and we have called these “Obsolete and past.”

Taken from the opening 129 Regular Session of 2011 written by Father Luis Farinello religious.

If you do not have the courage to stand firm in our convictions, then we will fall ahead of any other argument or enemy.

So I think we should keep our values ​​established a long time ago by our ancestors, otherwise we destroy ourselves with each other.

You decide.

If you believe this message can help to you, your family, your friends, etc., please, spread this message.

Most times the risk appears so fast that we react with fear and panic. In those moments we should act exactly the opposite. Keep calm not panic. And if we act as a cohesive group among all looking for solutions and joining forces we can solve the problem.

“United we stand” as in the video above, where a group of buffalo face some lions, and achieve save the buffalo that was in danger.

An example of that “United we stand” occurred in a train station in Japan. A woman had the misfortune d fall between the platform and the wagon on a train at the leave it. The difficulty presented by the problem is that the woman could not get out, the train could not move. The solution was as shown in the photo.

Dozens of people pushed the wagon, which weighs about 32 tons, and was moved enough to get women out of trouble. The wagon could tilt thanks to the suspension that it has, but still, it had to be easy.

The act of heroism occurred in Minami-Urawa Station, just north of Tokyo and was captured by a photojournalist, from Yomiuri newspaper.

When the woman was able to leave safely, the 40 people who helped push the wagon this morning gave a spectacular applause, but really that spectacular applause was for all of them that joined forces to save the woman.

Get organized and form groups of prevention in our neighborhood, workplace, place of recreation, etc.., In case of an accident, theft, kidnapping, earthquake, attack, etc. And always remembering that: “United we stand”.

Each of us are born somewhere in the world and we should be proud of where we come from. Having our own identity, no matter where we live now. As Peru, land of the ancient empire of the Incas, where the inhabitants sing and dance their typical songs, without losing their traditions pride.

An example of this is the Peruvian songwriter Gianmarco (Winner Latin Grammy Awards), wrote a song while living far away from Peru titled: “Hoy” made with all the feeling of loving his country: Peru.

In one of his concerts at the Stadium Monumental in Lima, Peru, Gianmarco combine his music and Peruvian folklore dance (see minute 3:33 of the video below), it was very emotional the concert dedicated to Peru, that near the end of the concert singer cry for his dear Peru. (See minute 8:35 of the video below)

A country without identity and traditions is like the wind blowing over the prairies without a trace.

Another typical dance of the coast of Peru, is “La Marinera“, is a dance where the man woos a woman in a very elegant way, see it you will love it. (See video above)
,br>There are many places to visit in Peru, and one of the most important is “Machu Picchu”, one of the 7 Wonders of the World. Peruvian cuisine is also one of the best in the world.

From Los Angeles, California, I wish my compatriots a Happy July 28th (Independence Day of Peru), and Peru continues on a path of prosperity.